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The Road to Mordor: Believing in Isengard
I find it's always awkward, to say the least, when someone tells you outright he dislikes something and then asks you to convince him otherwise. "I hate marmalade, it's so sticky! Why should I think it's awesome?" "Uh... you sound like you've made up your mind already." However, if the person in question isn't being an outright marmalade troll, I'll do my best to answer him because usually contained in that bizarre request is a frustrated non-understanding of what he wants to like, what others seem to like, but what he cannot quite grasp. Sometimes a better perspective helps us appreciate something we may have formerly disliked, so there's no reason not to engage such queries. This past week, a Massively forum poster expressed disatisfaction over Rise of Isengard, citing an abundance of kill 10 rats quests and a lackluster storyline. He finished by throwing down a challenge: "If anyone has some good things to say about Lord of the Rings Online that could convince me I am wrong, I would love to hear them." Now, I'm not here to say that he's wrong; that's a matter of opinion and taste. But I'll gladly step up to the plate and share why I don't think this is the worst expansion yet -- far from it, actually. Without presenting a full post-mortem on Rise of Isengard, I can tell you what I do think is worth a player's investment of money or TP in this expansion. Hit the jump and the Road to Mordor will take you there!
Exploring Middle-Earth: The Rift
While the high level area "The Rift" never made it into the writings of J.R.R. Tolkien, it is another great example of how Turbine was able to expand the lore of The Lord of the Rings without treading on his toes and ripping apart the world. It is also the subject of the exploring Middle-Earth column over at the Europe LotRO community."The folk of Middle-earth's northern lands have long held the name of Angmar in dread, but in that fell kingdom are places that cause even the minions of Mordirith to tremble. At the feet of the Mountains of Angmar lies the terrible land of death and decay, Gath Uior. Even the Orcs and evil Men who gather there fear what lurks behind the great portal that leads under the mountains. It is said that ever-vigilant guards watch the gates, which were hewn long before the Witch-king first came to Angmar – not to keep enemies out, but to keep something in."If you wish to check out the full article, jump on over and look at the neat screenshots and all of the lore of the Rift in one location.
The Hillmen of LotRO's Ost Crithlanc want to kill you: read about it
Angmar is the source of most of the evil of the Shadows of Angmar volume of The Lord of the Rings Online. It's home to the Witch-king of (you guessed it) Angmar, the right-hand man of the Dark Lord Sauron. So it probably won't be surpassed in pure evilness (at least not lore-wise) until Mordor is added to the game in, oh, 10 years or so.Turbine's LotRO Lorebook has been updated with an entry for Ost Crithlanc, some ruins at the border of Angmar (all bad) and the North Downs (only mostly bad). The ruins have been seized by an army of Witch-king-serving Hillmen who are preparing to sweep through Eriador and slaughter everyone -- even those cute little hobbits. God, they're evil.The Lorebook has a little more detail on this Turbine-created, Tolkien-inspired location, along with a few pretty neat images. Enjoy!
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Barad Glaran entry added to LotRO Lorebook
Turbine has gone to great lengths to stay true to J.R.R. Tolkien's gigantic library of Middle-earth lore in The Lord of the Rings Online. Regularly updating the official Lorebook is one of the ways they've tried to appeal to gamers who are fans of the literature.Every now and then they write up a new entry to fill us in on the story behind a place or person in the game world. This week, it's the high-level instance of Barad Gúlaran in Angmar. Barad Gúlaran used to be the fortress of the dreaded Witch-king, chief of Sauron's Nazgúl. When a few heroes chased the Witch-king away in the name of the free peoples of Middle-earth, the fortress was left open for plundering ... but it's still not exactly safe.Turbine included a couple of really nice screenshots of the dungeon, as well. And if lore isn't enough for you, you can learn a bit about the gameplay experience of Barad Gúlaran at the unofficial LOTRO-Wiki. That is, if you can tear yourself away from grinding Deeds!
Rise of the Witch-King box art revealed
Electronic Arts has released the box art for The Battle for Middle-earth 2: The Rise of the Witch-King, and it looks like the top game publisher hasn't yet bought into the whole Games for Windows promotional strategy. EA continues to use the standard bland, redundant bar label that has adorned their PC packaging since earlier this year -- which most likely means their games don't meet all the branding guidelines set forth by Microsoft (widescreen, parental controls, 360 controller support, etc.). Competing standards basically defeats the purpose of easier product recognition for consumers, and you have to wonder if Microsoft should have just called their marketing initiative what it really is, "Games for Vista".Witch-King is scheduled for a Nov. 28 release, but an Xbox 360 version hasn't been confirmed. Read GameSpot's recent interview with EA producer Amir Rahimi for more details.See also: Middle-earth expands to the Middle Kingdom Steve Gray discusses LOTR: The White Council
Rise of the Witch-king previewed
GameSpy has posted an extensive preview of The Rise of the Witch-king, the new expansion pack for The Battle for Middle-earth II. Expected to arrive on PCs this holiday season, the RotWK campaign takes place in the years after the One Ring leaves greedy Isildur, and the Lord of the Nazgul rises to power over the kingdom of Arnor (Aragorn's peeps). In addition to the 12-mission evil campaign, the new Angmar faction introduces the spellcasting Thrall Master and Sorcerer units, the latter of which can convert fallen enemies into servants of the Witch-king.An Xbox 360 version of RotWK has not been confirmed, but hopefully EA will save some holiday cheer for Xbox Live Marketplace shoppers.
